Drunk Baby in Tuscumbia?/Political Rumors

Help ID This Child

On rare occasions, we receive complaints of child abuse. One recent message to us contained a photo of a child, allegedly from Tuscumbia, being given shots of whiskey to drink. The child appeared to be between the age of 12 and 18 months.

The story goes that the photos were found on an SD card, and information about the family pictured is scant. The Tuscumbia police department is aware of the situation. They are thoroughly investigating and asking for assistance from anyone having more information.

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After Independence Day we received a photo of a young couple where the father was “abusing” the child with a sparkler. We looked at the picture and considered it more neglect than abuse. We certainly know the shot was sent to us since the father is a life-long felon. While we may personally dislike someone, we do try to be fair. It’s our opinion the child was suffering from neglect and not direct abuse. We advised the reader to contact DHR himself and have heard nothing of the matter since. 

People aren't born knowing how to parent a child. Add alcohol to the mix and it's a miracle the human race has survived this long.

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While we know DHR is not perfect, there’s little we can do here except make others aware of the situation. If you feel there is a real danger to a child or person unable to care for himself, we welcome your input here, but DHR or police should always be notified first.

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Rumors? Apparently many individuals don’t know the definition of rumor. A documented investigation is not rumor, but fact.

What of actual rumors? There are some floating around about various political candidates which have no basis in fact. When you hear a story about a candidate, be sure to ask the teller where he/she heard it. If the person “knows” the validity of these rumors, particularly involving illegal behavior, also be sure to ask why the teller hasn’t reported the events to authorities.

At the end of election season, we’re always amazed that anyone chooses to run for political office.

Abuse/Harassment

The couple was enjoying a camping trip, but couldn’t help but notice something odd about the pair in the camper next to theirs. The husband repeatedly reminded the woman to go inside out of the sun. The next morning, the campers found the woman with a swollen face and unable to leave her bed. They immediately called the local sheriff’s office.

The deputy who arrived thankfully knew that the sick woman hadn’t been the victim of a beating, but was suffering from an autoimmune attack brought on by too much sun. Was the woman who called authorities embarrassed? Probably. Was she wrong to have done so? No.

If you see a child that’s possibly being abused, call DHR. You might be wrong, but you might just save a life. It’s sad that some who knew of Serenity Renfroe’s abuse didn’t call anyone. It’s also sad that those who did call DHR, including a physician, didn’t receive an ideal response from that organization…but at least they did something.

Child Used Like Baseball Bat

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Do you ever wonder what kind of person harasses another? We’re sure there are many reasons for such behavior and also many ways a person can react to harassment. Sometimes it’s better to stop being nice to a person because you feel sorry for them. You can be sure they have no such feelings for you; intimidation, or at least attempted intimidation, is usually best handled quickly and with, if needed, legal recourse.

We may be sorry for anyone with an addiction, but we’re much more sorry for his victims. That is not going to change. Right is not going to change, no matter how often you attempt to justify a friend/relative’s actions or lie about his behavior to others. Did you ever think that if you put as much effort into actually helping your addicted friend instead of trying to cover up for him, your friend just might have made some real progress? Or perhaps you would have realized he’s a sociopath that no amount of help can fix?

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Our friend Nick Ireland is a crime writer based in Huntsville. He’s currently working on accounts of North Alabama murders which he hopes to publish in the near future. This is his second article for Shoals Crime:

Casino Bank Robber Non-Extraoidinaire

Other Points of View/Site Problems?

It's often easy to think the Shoals area is better...or worse...than other areas of our country. Better? We do have beautiful waterways and vistas not found everywhere in the U.S. We also have wonderful residents who give meaning to the term "Southern Hospitality." Other than that, are we that different from others in our everyday lives?

How about the worse part? Are our problems worse because of the economy and living conditions in some areas of the Shoals? Let's look at a recent comment by Deb Willbefree on child abuse:

I don't know what it is like down in Alabama, but I suspect it is similar to PA. In my observation, it is not the village that falls short--it is the child protective system and the laws.

There are very few child abuse cases up here that, along with the report of the abuse, the news does not also include mention that neighbors had called the police, called child protective services...called and called.

One recent and extreme case here is the poster child for why child abuse happens. A 6 year old child--who weighed 24 pounds--was found lying in the street, in a diaper, in February. A passing motorist found him and called police.

Upon investigation, the little boy had a twin sister. Both had been locked in a bedroom for a long time....with a potty chair. They were the size of 2 year olds.

Get this: Child Protective Service were on the case! For YEARS. Had people in and out. A pediatrician had called the authorities due to their small size when they were THREE MONTHS old.

They're doing well in foster care. The parents were put in jail last month I forget how many decades long their sentence was. The children had served six years.

The village is only as good as the authorities. Unfortunately. And we have to keep calling...

It seems cruelty to those who cannot fight back is universal. We urge everyone to be dilligent; you just might save a life.

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Our friend Mark Davis remains in jail. We are sorry there are no real updates, but urge everyone to write to encourage Mark at this time. You may also contact Judge Mike Jones and let him know how you feel about his handling of this case...lawsuit against him and all.

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Several friends/readers have recently commented that our site has been either hard or impossible to load. We have added nothing to the site, but Blogger did change its software for importing photos and for making comments. We have contacted Blogger about the problem, but have not received any feedback as yet. If you have a problem, please make us aware of it.



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